Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.

Beef tea is nothing more than what we now know as beef broth, beef bouillon, or beef consomme. One of my unfailing go-to beverages when I am feeling puny, or (unfortunately) on a liquid-only diet. Why it was a big deal in 1909 I have no idea. I am more concerned about the dude in the window, whether he is coming or going. My theory is that the husband came home unexpectedly.

In addition to the "JAP RIOTS" headline, a sign on the Great Northern Railway office announces steamship sailings from Seattle to Yokohoma and Kobe.

On a completely separate note, while street crowds in most vintage cityscapes tend to be predominately male, this one is the most extreme, with almost no women visible. It looks almost like a modern street scene in the Middle East.

The newsboy's headline concerns an incident during a labor strike by 10,000 Japanese sugar plantation workers on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The wire service "riot" story was datelined "Honolulu - June 9" and ran in the New York Times on June 10, 1909. The wider story about this strike and its developments ran in many mainland newspapers throughout June and July, and concerned the efforts of Japanese sugar workers in Hawaii to achieve a wage increase from $18 per month to $22 per month. Much of the press coverage seems to have focused on "yellow peril" conspiracy fears, but a more nuanced report, "Who Will Develop the Wealth of Hawaii?" ran in the Times on June 27, detailing new efforts by white plantation owners to attract Filipino, Portuguese and Puerto Rican immigrants to replace the "restless and ambitious" Japanese.

The headlines referred to riots in California due to a spate of new laws affecting the Japanese population. Below is an outline of the years before and after the riot. It clearly paints a picture for what happened during WWII.

1906
San Francisco School Board orders segregation of 93 Japanese American students.

1907
On orders from President Theodore Roosevelt, S.F. School Board rescinds segregation order, but strong feelings against Japanese persist. Anti-Japanese riots break out in San Francisco in May, again in October, much to the embarrassment of U.S. government.

Congress passes immigration bill forbidding Japanese laborers from entering the U.S. via Hawaii, Mexico, or Canada.

1908
The Asiatic Exclusion League reports 231 organizations affiliated now, 195 of them labor unions. U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root and Foreign Minister Hayashi of Japan formalize the Gentlemen's Agreement whereby Japan agrees not to issue visas to laborers wanting to emigrate to the U.S.

1909
Anti-Japanese riots in Berkeley. U.S. leaders alarmed at tone and intensity of anti-Japanese legislation introduced in California legislature.

1913
Alien Land Law (Webb-Haney Act) passed, denying "all aliens ineligible for citizen-ship" (which includes all Asians except Filipinos, who are "subjects" of U.S.) the right to own land in California. Leasing land Iimited to 3 years. Similar laws eventually adopted in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Minnesota.

1. There is a bald man walking down the street; he appears to be the only man in downtown Duluth not wearing a hat. He must have met with some devastating hat disaster. That shiny pate REALLY sticks out!

2. The man in front of Fitger's Beer who is looking down at his feet or something on the ground. I'm pretty sure he was saying or thinking: "Aw man, what did I just step in?"

Shorpy.com | History in HD is a vintage photo blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.